Challa Makes You Dream
by Catticus
Summary: Based on the universe of the Echorium Sequence. Many years after the legends Rialle and Kherron were long dead... [ONE SHOT]


Many years after the legends Rialle and Kherron were long dead . . .

&&&&

Noella danced about her room where she shared her pallet with five other girls, humming _Challa _in pallet-whisper. She always danced when she sang, but only alone. Never very confident, her best singing was when she was alone, never in front of the teachers. Her fear was that she would never become a singer, and become a nurse in the Birthing House.

Switching to _Kashe_, the girl hummed in an even quieter voice as she entered the hall to go down to the beach to speak with the Merlee. Her best friends were them, ones who didn't mind her singing. Unbeknownst to her, Noella's voice matched that of the First Singer himself, though in a much higher octave, of course.

Noella always enjoyed free days, where she could run down the beach, racing the Merlee children and let her knee-length hair fly in the wind like she was ten again. Final Years at sixteen were expected to be very serious.

Letting her voice grow louder, the _Kashe_ flew on the wind and back up the Five Thousand Steps, making some of the First Years giggle at the top.

Halfway to the small cove where Noella liked to sit, another voice came on the wind, singing _Challa_ with all their might. Noella would recognize the voice anywhere. Slowing, she waited for Kalan to catch up to her, still singing _Kashe_ loudly.

Kalan himself was quite tall with a darker complexion, and his bass voice was quite good, especially with _Challa_ and _Aushan_. The _Challa_ he was singing at the moment would have put Noella to sleep if she hadn't been countering with _Kashe_. The two raised their voices ever higher, trying to best the other. The strong wind carried the mingled songs to the open windows of the Birthing House, putting all the babies into happy dreams.

Finally overdone, the two called it a draw and continued toward the cove in the silence. The strong wind that had carried their voices so well brought to them snatches of all five Power Songs, mostly by First Years. Noella giggled at the attempted snatches of _Yehn_, the death song, so poorly sung in sporadic snatches by the First Years.

Entering the cove, Kalan started humming _Challa_ in pallet-whisper and, while Noella closed her eyes to enjoy the song, he scooped her up and jumped into the calm waters of the cove. Noella screeched and covered her chest with her arms as soon as he let go.

"White isn't good for swimming, Kalan!" the brown-eyed girl eyed him dangerously, _Aushan_ hanging in her voice.

_Kashe _filled his as he laughed at her, "You can't scare me Noella, you know that."

Noella smirked at she leaped upon him, sinking both of them back under the water. After a few minutes of play-fighting, the two lay on the sand and stared at the sky, panting.

"Noella, I've a question for you," Kalan turned his head toward her.

"Like?" Noella smiled and rose to lean on her elbow.

"Have you ever been kissed?"

Noella's eyebrows shot up. Never in her entire life had she been asked something that personal. "No . . . why?"

"Well . . . do you think . . . that is . . . I wanted to know . . ."

Noella hummed a bar or two of _Challa_ to calm him. "To know what?"

"Can I kiss you?" Kalan blurted.

Half surprised, Noella played with her blue-dyed locks for a moment before assenting quietly.

Kalan smiled nervously and bent his head toward hers. The kiss was brief, barely a touching of lips, but they both blushed fire as the pulled away.

&&&&

The next day was testing. Everyone was nervous; choruses of pallet-whispers filled every room belonging to Final Years. Occasionally there was a snatch of a song here and there as well.

Noella sat on her pallet wringing her hands. What if she wasn't good enough? What if she squeaked? Started with the wrong song? Got distracted? Lost control? The questions tumbled over in her head.

Every few minutes, _Challa_ would ring through the bluestone walls, penetrating every room with calm, followed by a bit of _Kashe_, to keep everyone from breaking down.

Finally, Noella was called to the Pentangle for her test. Her hands shook violently as she walked along the halls of the Echorium. Just outside the doors, familiar arms spun her around into a hug. Noella hugged Kalan fiercely before letting go.

"Don't worry; I'll wait outside for you ok?" He kissed her forehead.

"Thanks," Noella kissed his cheek hurriedly and turned to slip inside the large doors. A bit more confident, she walked to the middle of the five-pointed star.

"Your first test will be to fill only this room with a single note. The note should be the very middle of your range," First Singer Adrien spoke from one of the points.

Noella did so, making sure no sound went beyond the walls of the five-pointed star.

"Pick your highest note, and fill the room," a Singer behind her said.

Noella did so.

"Pick your lowest and fill the room," her teacher, Singer Fillis, said from the right.

She did that too.

"Perfect. Now, sing all five Songs as listed in the anthem, the first three bars of each. Do not fill the room," a fourth Singer said.

Noella started _Challa_ and proceeded all the way to _Yehn_. She surprised herself by not squeaking during _Shi_, as she often did.

"Finally," the First Singer spoke again, "Fill our Echorium with _Challa_, please."

Noella took a deep breath. This was it, she would mess up. She could never sing loudly in front of people, excepting Kalan.

"If it helps, imagine you are alone on the beach, with the wind blowing fiercely. A very calming setting," the First Singer suggested.

Closing her eyes, Noella imagined the beach from yesterday, and began her song.

&&

Outside, Kalan waited for Noella to come out. Suddenly, the sweetest sound he had ever heard flowed along the walls of the Echorium. He had never heard Noella sing like that before! She always sang lower and without feeling, not this passion-induced Dream Song of Power. It was so powerful; he nearly fell over from the effect. When it changed to _Kashe_, he started laughing from the joy of the song.

&&

Unconsciously, Noella began to sway to the music of _Challa_ and _Kashe_. Before she knew it, she was spinning and leaping gracefully around the Pentangle, the teachers watching in amazement. When First Singer Adrien called for her to stop, she landed directly in the centre of the room, folding her hands at her waist.

"Very good, Noella. You may be a singer yet," and with that, the First Singer dismissed her.

Noella burst out of the Pentangle and leapt onto Kalan. "I'm going to be a singer!" She yelled.

Kalan grabbed her by the waist and spun her around, sharing in her joy. "I knew you could do it!" He hugged her again, and before either knew it, they had kissed again, though much deeper than before, which was saying something. The two novices pulled away blushing again. Then they set off back to the pallets to celebrate with the other novices who had passed.


End file.
